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CROWDSOURCING: To disrupt or not to disrupt? Where #REStartUps turn for advice, funding?

BW Bill Wendel Public Seen by 271

In the past half week, two posts about mentors have caught my eye. One by Zillow's CEO Spencer Rascoff talked about creating an ideal mentor by seeking out different people for advice; the other by Steven Blank offered this insight:

"Unlike coaching, there’s no specific agenda or goal but mentor relationships can result in a decades-long dialog of continual learning."

Another one of Blank's insights jumped off the page, and curious what REStartUps -- particularly those in Boston, think about the "confusion" described below:

"Upon reflection I realized that this student team was missing a learning opportunity. They were soon heading for the real world, and they had no idea how to evaluate and process 'suggestions' and “advice.” Ironically, given they were really smart and in a world-class university, they were confusing “smart” with 'I can figure it all out by myself.'"

http://bit.ly/MentorBlank

With so much siloed thinking in real estate, are REStartUps better off figuring out things for themselves? What can they learn from previous false starts or "smart failing?" Spencer hasn't responded to this question yet, what's your take?

CROWDSOURCING: Generation of #RealEstate mentors including Becky Swann, who’s IRED site was nominated for a Webby Award to Erle Rawlins who backgrounded @RalphNader, are passing on or disappearing. Who would you nominate to advise money-saving #REStartUps?

http://bit.ly/MentorRETweet

Or is RE2020 misguided? Are REStartUps wrong to pursue disruptive business models? Should they focus on supporting incumbent business models, as suggested by Bain Capital's RE guru? Excerpt:

"The businesses that define the emerging third phase of real estate technology are likely to look more like the earliest technology businesses in the space — more complementary than competitive to incumbents and deriving their value proposition by utilizing new technological capabilities."

http://bit.ly/BainFutureRE

What to you think panelists at Inman's Capital Connect will say next week?

http://bit.ly/CapConnectSF18